


daylight, i dream of you softly (lost in a cityscape)

by flowerpetal



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Friends to Lovers, Multi, Slow Burn, and am finally revisiting, enjoy, hi this is the 31k monster i wrote when i was 13 but never finished
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-13 10:17:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17486294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerpetal/pseuds/flowerpetal
Summary: “Hello,” Suga greets, ears turning red, “I came to buy a plant.”Daichi nods slowly, eyes averted. Later that day, when his thoughts catch up, he'll blame the blush on the heat. “Anything in particular?”





	daylight, i dream of you softly (lost in a cityscape)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [viria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/viria/gifts), [TrianaNero](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrianaNero/gifts).



> yeah, this was supposed to be a short thing for someone's birthday but. here we are. 31k. possibly more as i edit. anyway. the title comes from _angela_ by flower face.
> 
> this is gifted to the two people who inspired me most when I was still super into haikyuu!! and due to whom this fanfic even exists. it'll be up as i edit over the next couple of months. cheers!

The city means little to Sawamura Daichi. The word brings to mind a convoluted reality filled by all the inconveniences from traffic jams to costly yet cramped apartments. He’s been, twice, and now, aged 30, he can safely say he hated it both times. So much so, even, that the mere mention of concrete buildings and glass-covered towers brings up sentiments of disgust.

So Daichi stays in his village where life is quiet and peaceful – where he can talk to the friendly couple from the next street and offer them free gardening consultation at the mention of a dying plant, where he can walk past houses and name their owners and their pets. He stays away from the rush and the noise and the brutalist structures of urban life. And he tells himself it’s not fear of change that’s keeping him away. After all, there’s no reason not to when his flower shop is overflowing with plants and customers alike, and his cat provides him with all the entertainment he needs.

If there is a life perfect for him, then this is it.

 

But, as Yui likes to remind him, if there’s one thing his perfect life is missing, it’s someone to spend it with.

“It’s not for lack of trying,” Daichi huffs when Yui calls him out on his non-existent love life while they bask in the sun streaming through the windows of his shop. “There’s just no one for me here.”

He’s standing behind the cramped worktable in the corner, rummaging through a box of tools he’d brought out of the back room before Yui had jingled her way through the shop door. His fingers latch onto a shovel and he smiles with satisfaction, pulling it out and brushing away the cobweb it’s been wrapped into.

“There’s the Mizuhashi boys over in the next village. If their mother ever lets them leave the house with you again after last year’s festival season,” Yui giggles, swinging her legs over one of the tables not yet filled by plants, and Daichi glares. “I’m joking, I’m joking,” she swats her hand around when Daichi refuses to reply, “though you should probably apologize already.”

“And give her an opportunity to have at me? No thanks,” Daichi chuckles. “That woman does not pull her punches.”

Peppermint, Daichi’s cat, joins Yui on the table, nudging at her hand as she climbs into her lap, fully expecting to be pampered with cuddles. Yui only sighs – Daichi isn’t sure if it’s meant for the cat or for him – and droops her fingers through Mint’s fur.

“I really don’t see where the issue is,” she finally states. “You could always leave.”

Daichi’s fingers still around the crown imperial he’s attempting to move from a too-small pot it had overgrown, looking up at Yui and watching as she scans the room carefully, taking in the barely-there changes Daichi made in the organisation of the plants. He knows what’s happening – could see it coming. Yui had a tendency to try and stay on top of all things – be useful in her observation – and this was her making sure Daichi knew exactly what she thought of his situation.

“You know I can’t leave.”

Daichi’s fingers return to work, sliding underneath the plant’s roots, his eyes re-focused on the task at hand in an attempt to avoid the pitying gaze he knows is being sent his way.

“Bullshit,” Yui shoots back.

“It’s true,” Daichi insists. “There’s so much to do here! The shop, Mint, the people. Besides, how would you ever manage without me?”

“Cheeky,” Yui flicks at Mint’s tail, then at her head, and the cat purrs. “You’d be the one missing me, we all know that. And you know I’d take care of the shop and Mint gladly. You’re just making excuses.”

"Yes, you and your green thumb that made a cactus die in two weeks will do great running a flower shop,” Daichi remarks with a grin. “Though your skills with Mint _are_ impeccable.”

He looks up and for a moment, the two maintain eye contact – the kind that says more than words could ever convey – Yui’s gaze pressing and Daichi’s calm and collected. “Are you saying you’ll go?” Yui asks.

Daichi keeps silent.

“Your cat is spoilt.”

Daichi raises an eyebrow and sends Yui a pointed look. “And whose fault is that?

“How should I know?" Yui smiles innocently. "Ask Noya."

Daichi laughs wholeheartedly, remembering the utter disdain with which Mint had reacted Noya when she was still a kitten, and Yui giggles along with him. Their chat turns slow and comfortable after that – no more stilted pauses or risky topics that strike too close to the heart. Daichi manages to take the crown imperial out of the small pot, a smile etched into his cheeks, and transfers it into a pre-prepared pot, ever-so-slightly larger than the last. He adds some dirt to fill in the empty space and pushes the old pot aside. Out of sight; out of mind.

“You really need to go on holiday sometime Daichi,” Yui suddenly whines from her spot, eyes trained on the crown imperial and hand running over Mint’s fur in long, flowing intervals. “Doesn’t have to be the city – not Tokyo at least – but Osaka’s nice. Or another town down south where there’s fewer mountains and more warmth.”

Daichi picks up a pretty green watering can from underneath the table and cringes at Yui in response to her suggestion as he lets the water flow freely onto the dirt in the new pot. “I think you’d like it,” Yui remarks. “Could even get some plants for the collection.”

Daichi grumbles under his breath. “They’d just wither.”

The water from the can has stopped flowing so Daichi takes the pot and places it on a nearby shelf. When he turns around to face Yui, she’s already jumped off the table, crowding against his workspace.

“Somewhere abroad then? Australia maybe, or Korea?”

Yui sighs when he shakes his head. “I’m not trying to pester you. But I worry,” she says, meeting Daichi’s eyes straight on even as he tries to avoid her gaze. “You’re right when you say there’s no one for you here – we exhausted that option long ago. But – “

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“ _But_ ,” Yui continues “no one is coming here either. The villages are dying; more people flee than visit, and those who do never stay.”

Daichi turns away from Yui, away from the desperate look that’s painted itself over her face, because he knows well enough that he’s screwed himself over royally. It’s his own fault there’s no one to spend the rest of his life with. Instinctively, his fingers trace the spirals crossing his work table, thoughts of lost hopes and broken hearts crossing his mind.

In the end, he can’t even reply – Yui is, as per usual, completely right. The village is dying out. And Daichi might end up dying with it.

“Hey,” Yui reaches out her hand and strokes his cheek as if he were Mint, lying in her lap. “You know it wasn’t your fault.”

Daichi nods, staying silent. After a moment, the hand retreats and then Yui is leaving, handbag strung over her shoulder. “Ennoshita’s waiting,” she says quietly. “Think about it though. That’s all I ask.”

And then she’s gone, the bell above the door letting out a wistful jingle that gives way to the unbearable silence Daichi has learnt to live with – the kind that will drag him deep into his thoughts. Mint tangles between his legs and he looks over to the space where Yui had been sitting – empty now, mocking him with its vastness. Without a second thought, he takes the crown imperial from the shelf and stumbles over to the table, pushing the plant into the middle of the emptiness. It remains there, standing proudly in its solitude, watching on as Daichi leans on a nearby wall and slides down to the floor.

Mint joins him right away, jumping into his lap, white fur messy as ever. She settles and Daichi slides his fingers through his fur, listening to her purr.

“Do you think I should leave too?” he asks Mint, letting the question resonate through the silence. “Is there really nothing left?”

Daichi sighs and rests his head against the wall. A swarm of flies has gathered near the ceiling, buzzing in the wake of the coming summer heat.

 

 

The week continues as usual, no more mention of travel or love or cities. Daichi tends to his plants, letting them blossom beneath his hands, the conversation with Yui all but forgotten. Worry gives way to routine – cups of tea in the morning sunshine, small talk with the grandmas stopping by the shop to ease their loneliness and slow evenings with ageing books and long, relaxing baths. But Daichi should know better than expect the calm to last.

On Friday night, he meets Ennoshita for drinks. It’s been a long day, full of tourists stopping by to see the newly declared ‘national treasure’ their village has become, showcased on the news only a couple nights before. Strangers had walked around his shop mindlessly, searching for an out-of-the-ordinary souvenir which Daichi could never provide, and a group of schoolchildren had laid waste to one of the local tea-slopes during their tour, putting him into the uncomfortable situation of explaining to one of his neighbours that their yearly harvest had nearly been decimated.

He’d hoped for a quiet evening at Takeda’s bar, but Ennoshita doesn’t waste time on small talk.

 “Yui told me to ask you whether you’d made up your mind yet,” he tells Daichi as they order their second round of beers. They clink their bottles together, and then against the table, their heads lolling with the alcohol.

“I haven’t,” Daichi replies and suddenly the world is overwhelming him – lights spinning, floor convulsing and the ceiling dropping. The beer inside his glass sloshes around, spilling over the floor as he raises it to his mouth. The room is small and shrinking, Ennoshita’s pitying gaze drowning Daichi with stuffiness as he drowns himself with alcohol. He calls for another drink – scotch this time.

“She’s not going to stop, you know?” Ennoshita laments after Daichi refuses to say anything else on the matter. His fingers tap against the table in a disenchanted manner, rhythm scattering along with the song playing from the speakers. “Not until you answer.”

“I know.”

 

 

It takes Daichi a few weeks and many sleepless nights to mull over Yui’s words. Rainy evenings come and go, leaving the ground moist and the air humid. The heat gets heavier by the day and Daichi considers investing in air conditioning just like he has every summer past. He hasn’t caved into the want yet.

Change is terrifying. The last time Daichi had been impulsive it hadn’t ended well. So, he takes his time and thinks – goes over the nightmare scenarios, then the dream scenarios, until his mind can settle on a middle path. And the next morning when Yui stops by the shop on her way to the market, he’s ready to give her an answer.

“I've been thinking,” Daichi says as Yui’s monologue on Saeko’s new girlfriend comes to a close. Yui’s interest is immediately piqued.

 “I’m going on a vacation,” Daichi glances up from the orchid he’d just sprayed with water, looking forward to the victorious smile that is sure to be gracing Yui’s face. Her face, however, remains inscrutable.

Daichi sets down the spraying can. “You’re not happy,” he states blankly. “I thought you’d be happy.”

Yui huffs.

“Are you doing it to keep me off your case?” she finally asks. “Because if you are, I’d rather you not go at all.”

“I’m not doing it for you,” Daichi interrupts. “I’ve thought it over. It’d be good for me.”

Yui retains a sceptical glare, watching as Daichi returns to the orchid, turning its pot as he checks the leaves for signs of illnesses, pushing it to the side of the table when he finds none. He takes a deep breath before he pulls over the next pot, repeating the pattern.

“I’ve been looking into it,” he says mindlessly, fingers patting leaves. “The south seems nice – not a city, but maybe a seaside town. I’ve found an apartment.”

Yui leans over the table, looking at him with suspicion, lips thin. Daichi takes a step back from the intensity. Then, she slips into a wide grin, and it’s as if there was never anything to worry about in the first place.

“Good job kid!” she states, her sudden energy making Daichi startle. “Always knew you’d see the light eventually.”

"Who’re you calling kid?!" Daichi clicks his tongue, letting the second statement slip over his head. “We were born four months apart!”

“And that makes you younger, kid. Anyway, the details are irrelevant,” Yui waves it off with her hand. She pauses for a moment and the excitement from Daichi’s big reveal seems to dissipate as her grin turns into a weak smile.

Daichi sets the orchid aside, leaning over his work table to give her his full attention. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Yui replies, “I just haven’t heard from Noya lately.”

Daichi nods, humming with dissatisfaction. “I haven’t either now that I think about it.”

Yui’s smile vanishes completely. “But I’m sure he’s alright!" he squabbles. “Both of them! Noya has it under control, he always does, you know that.”

“I know, I know – it’s unreasonable,” Yui shakes her head, frowning. “But I can’t help worry after last summer. You know how Asahi gets when it gets close to his deadlines. I just don’t want to see him hurt again.”

Daichi remains silent, watching as Yui’s eyebrows furrow further, her hair dancing around her face as she lowers her eyes. “You could go check on him?” he finally suggests but Yui shakes her head again.

“Or maybe I could go?” he follows up and waits for Yui’s gaze to lift itself off the wooden table and up to his eyes.

“Would you?” she asks, and when Daichi shows her his best smile, she reaches over the work table, intertwining their fingers. “You’re an angel, kid. An absolute angel. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Daichi chuckles. “I’ll hold you to that. You can get me a nice swimsuit for starters.”

“Deal!” Yui exclaims, straightening up. “But you’re making them dinner.”

“Deal,” Daichi confirms. “Now what was that you were saying about Saeko?”

And then it's as if nothing even happened – Yui switches back to the gossip and Daichi resumes his work, fiddling around with a row plants. Their banter is easy, relaxed – no more mention of difficult topics – and Daichi will chuckle along, adding a remark every-so-often. When Mint wakes up, she slips into the room and distracts them both and so they end up on the floor playing with a set of woollen mice.

When he escorts Yui to the door at closing time, Daichi feels a heavy weight settle in his chest. He sighs, turning the key in the lock and taking one last glance at Yui’s retreating back. He hasn’t even left, yet here he is, missing home already.

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on [tumblr](https://teikalliste.tumblr.com) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/teikalliste)


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